“I’m guessing when he found himself he found himself in love with this Bianca person?”

“Can you believe I was actually shocked?” Ivy asked.

“You trusted him,” Mr. Jones said.

“And her. She’d become my best friend. I’m the one who drove her to the hospital and stayed with her when she got her boob job!”

“Oh my.” The old man’s cheeks bloomed a bright red.

“Sorry.” Ivy laughed. “Too much information. I don’t know why I’m spilling all this tea.”

“Excuse me?”

“Telling you my darkest secrets. I didn’t even tell my therapist this part.”

Mr. Jones looked around the small living room. “It’s not like I’m going to spill the tea you just spilled,” he said. “I’m more or less confined to the house these days. My biggest excitement is when my neighbor takes me grocery shopping, or I have a doctor’s appointment.”

“You must have a very nice neighbor,” Ivy said.

“I surely do. There are lots of nice folks living in this town. And it sounds to me like this real estate agent is one of them. Maybe you should give him a chance to prove it to you.”

The old man’s pale blue eyes twinkled from behind his glasses.

“Maybe I will,” Ivy relented. “He wants to take me to dinner Wednesday night, before the Christmas Stroll.”

“You must go,” Mr. Jones insisted. “The Christmas Stroll is the best night of the year in Tarburton. My Polly and I used to take Ev when he was a kid. We’d have hot chocolate at the bonfire. I used to sneak a little flask in my pocket to add some Christmas cheer.”

“We’ll see,” Ivy said. She glanced at her watch. “Oops. Better go. I’m meeting Phoebe at the diner.”

He struggled to his feet. “It was such a treat to see you today, Ivy. Please come back anytime. And thank you for the candy. You can tell Nancy Bergstrom for me that she hit a home run with all those new flavors.”

“I’ll do that,” Ivy said. She looked over at Punkin, who was still lounging on the floor by the old man’s chair. “It just occurred to me. I can’t take Punkin into the diner, and it’s really too cold to leave him tied up outside for more than a few minutes. Would it be okay if he stayed here with you? I won’t be more than an hour.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Mr. Jones said, beaming.

Phoebe was clearly in a state. She was paler than usual, with dark circles under her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Ivy asked, sliding into her side of the booth.

“It’s Cody,” Phoebe blurted. “He called last night. He’s back in the states already!”

“But that’s good news, right?” Ivy asked.

“No! It’s terrible. I wasn’t expecting him to get back in the states this early. I still need to lose another ten pounds. I’ve been starving myself, but nothing’s happening.” She nibbled at her cuticle. “This is a disaster. I didn’t sleep at all last night, and I’ve been like a zombie at work. I’m just going to have to tell Cody I can’t see him yet.”